Man pleads guilty in 2008 Segrest shooting

CORPUS CHRISTI - A Taft man has become the eighth person to be convicted in a fatal 2008 Segrest Street shooting.

Joe Maldonado, who turned 26 on Wednesday, took a plea deal for 15 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty on July 1 to murder, aggravated assault and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity. As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to concurrent terms, according to court records.

The charges related to a July 25, 2008, shooting that killed Danny Villarreal and sent three children to a hospital.

Last month, Maldonado testified for the prosecution against two men, Jody Acosta and Reynaldo Castillo, who he said also had been involved.

Both men were each acquitted by a judge on four felony counts: two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Besides Maldonado, seven others also have been sentenced to prison in connection with the shooting either through plea deals or jury trials. One man, Jose Olvera, was acquitted last year.

One of the men who took a plea deal has testified that the shooting was ordered by a high-ranking member of a prison gang as retaliation for an incident involving Villarreal's brother.

Authorities have yet to find 37-year-old Anthony Gonzales, who is facing murder and other charges.